DENVER - Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are working on a deal to give her some votes in the roll call for the Democratic presidential nomination, but quickly end the divided balloting in unanimous consent for Obama.

Democratic officials involved in the negotiations said Monday the idea is that at the start of the state-by-state vote for the presidential nomination Wednesday night, delegates would cast their votes for Clinton or Obama.

But the voting would be cut off after a couple of states, the officials said, perhaps ending with New York, when Clinton herself would call for unanimous backing for Obama from the convention floor. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity while the deal was being finalized.

Clinton said she has told her delegates she will vote for Obama, but she would not instruct them how to vote.

Many of those delegates, she told reporters Monday, will likely vote for him. Others, she said, "feel an obligation to the people who sent them here that they were elected to represent."

Clinton said part of her job at the convention will be letting those delegates know "that however they decide to vote, we will all be united behind Senator Obama."

"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this is Barack Obama's convention," she said, adding that it is only natural for there to be some lingering issues to resolve after a tough primary.

"It would have been the same way if I had won and Barack was here supporting the unity of the party," she said. "This was a hard-fought campaign and there was a lot of intensity and passion associated with it, in part because of the historic nature of our two candidacies."

Clinton gives a prime-time convention speech Tuesday night, and the following day will gather her delegates together and publicly release them and urge them to support Obama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is chairwoman of the convention, acknowledged Monday that Democrats are not yet united following the bitter primary fight, especially among women. She said a "gender gap" in Obama's favor had emerged "even before the convention, and even before the complete reconciliation that we need," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080825/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_clinton;_ylt=AmFfWket7phPG76k78DUIr2s0NUE

GrumpyOldLady

08-25-2008, 05:32 PM

I'm sure they are VERY afraid of a full roll call vote.
Especially that the vote will come after both Hillary and Bill give speeches.
Obama should be afraid.
Obama should be VERY afraid.